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WHITE PLAINS, NY— Following its first unveiling of plans to reposition and revitalize the Sheraton Hotels & Resorts brand in June 2007, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has now followed that up with more concrete brand-wide measures, including plans for $1.3 billion in renovations, $400 million in key brand initiatives and $2 billion in new Sheraton openings.

As part of the revitalization, Sheraton will upgrade 100 of its U.S. hotels, or what is nearly half of its North American portfolio, by renovating 50,000 rooms and redesigning more than 100 lobbies.

The new lobby design concept will be inspired metaphorically by the great public parks of the world and their social nature and will prominently feature the Link @ Sheraton signature communications hub that is designed to enable guests to stay connected and productive while traveling. Free wireless high-speed Internet access and Internet-enabled computer stations will also be found in the new lobby.

Meanwhile, Sheraton’s vp of design, D.B. Kim, has worked with George Wong Design to create the new design concepts for Sheraton guestrooms. One of three new distinct design templates will be used for the soon-to-be-renovated rooms, including classic/timeless, simple/aesthetically streamlined and relaxed/casual. The templates will prominently feature such colors as off-white, yellow, terracotta, cool blues, brown and green,

The layout of the rooms will also now be different and more flexible with four distinct zones, including a welcome area, a “connection” zone, an area for rest and a space to re-energize.

The welcome center will offer a custom luggage bench and an organizational wall shelf for guests to unpack. Instead of a traditional closet, a new wood-paneled wardrobe will be present offering multiple compartments, hanging space and a full-length mirror.

HX: The Hotel Experience Has Its Own Story to Tell
The Hotel Business team just returned from this year’s HX: The Hotel Experience, which was held in New York City at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. As we usually do post-event, we talk amongst ourselves about trends we noticed at the show, held in conjunction with BDNY. And while the latter—and now larger—show was abundant with design trends (let’s just say blue seemed the prevalent color; bold, geometric forms the dominant shape; and metallics a common thread…pun intended!), the more traditional “hotel” side of the convention center had its own story to tell.